Following the recent border skirmish with China, the Indian Premier League (IPL) Governing Council will be meeting next week to review the various sponsorship deals associated with the tournament. The official IPL handle tweeted late on Friday night, “Taking note of the border skirmish that resulted in the martyrdom of our brave jawans, the IPL Governing Council has convened a meeting next week to review IPL’s various sponsorship deals.” The council is likely to review the yearly Rs 440 crore title sponsorship deal with Vivo, that ends in 2022, which is a China-based company.
Earlier, on Thursday, BCCI treasurer Arun Dhumal had said that the board was open to reviewing its sponsorship policy for the next cycle, but had no plans to end its association with current IPL title sponsor Vivo as the money coming in from the Chinese company is helping India’s cause and not the other way round.
But with anti-China sentiments are running high in India following the border clash between the two countries at Galwan valley earlier this week, Dhumal’s views may not hold water with the other board members, who might see the situation quite differently.
Another brand Oppo, a mobile phone brand like Vivo, was sponsoring the Indian cricket team until September last year when Bengaluru-based educational technology Byju’s start-up replaced the Chinese company.